The Three Mrs. Parkers
Joan Medlicott
Pocket, Mar 2005, $13.00, 320 pp.
ISBN: 0743487966

After riding a train from Maine to Westminister, South Carolina, seventy-five-year-old Winifred Parker demands her daughter-in-law pick her up. Holding in her ire because her offer to meet the train was previously rejected, Zoe drives Winifred to her home, the two women barely talk, which has been their relationship since Winfred felt her son Steven married down when he wed pregnant Zoe Amorey. Joining the Air Force, Steven died not long afterward.

The older woman asks how her thirty-year-old granddaughter Kathryn (not Kate to the harridan) is doing and how much longer will Kate's brai- damaged daughter Laura May live. Zoe lies, saying her dispirited daughter is fine and her nine-year-old granddaughter whose name is Laurie Ann could easily live another decade. However, tragedy occurs as Laurie Ann dies. Her spouse Hank left her when Kate refused to place their child in a special care home; Kate spent the next nine years caring for her daughter, but now is alone except for her mother, the only person who was there for her and her daughter. The three women, Zoe, Kate and Winifred, share a roof as the oldest and the sandwiched need one another, but the youngest needs the most nurturing at this moment and Zoe informs her in-law if she must choose, Kate stays.

This three-generation family drama will please fans of the author as Joan Medlicott takes readers deep into the thoughts, feelings, and worries of the three women. The storyline is character-driven as the realistic trio faces different woes and pulls. Though the action is limited, fans of insightful, contemporary tales will appreciate the profound THE THREE MRS. PARKERS.

Harriet Klausner